Light previously has been used to detect and probe objects. For example, the use of optical traps or tweezers have been known for some time and extensively utilized in various fields of study. More recently, light has been used to move objects in addition to trapping them. Extended optical traps are structured light fields whose intensity and phase gradients exert forces that confine microscopic objects to one-dimensional curves in three dimensions. Intensity-gradient forces typically are responsible for trapping in the two transverse directions, while radiation pressure directed by phase gradients can move particles along the third. This combination of trapping and driving has been demonstrated dramatically in optical vortexes, ring-like optical traps that are created by focusing helical modes of light. Intensity gradients draw illuminated objects toward the ring, and phase gradients then drive them around. More recently, holographic methods have been introduced to design and project more general optical traps that are extended along lines, rings and helices, with intensity and phase profiles independently specified along their lengths. Unlike optical vortexes, these traps feature nearly ideal axial intensity gradients because they are specifically designed to achieve diffraction-limited focusing.